1943 Duke Blue Devils football team

The 1943 Duke Blue Devils football team was an American football team that represented Duke University as a member of the Southern Conference during the 1943 college football season. In its second season under head coach Eddie Cameron, the team compiled an 8–1 record (4–0 against conference opponents), won the conference championship, was ranked No. 7 in the final AP Poll, and outscored opponents by a total of 335 to 34.[1][2]

1943 Duke Blue Devils football
SoCon champion
ConferenceSouthern Conference
Ranking
APNo. 7
Record8–1 (4–0 SoCon)
Head coach
CaptainGame captains
Home stadiumDuke Stadium
Seasons
← 1942
1944 →
1943 Southern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 7 Duke $ 4 0 0 8 1 0
Maryland 2 0 0 4 5 0
South Carolina 2 1 0 5 2 0
Wake Forest 3 2 0 4 5 0
North Carolina 2 2 0 6 3 0
Richmond 1 1 0 6 1 0
Clemson 2 3 0 2 6 0
VMI 2 3 0 2 6 0
NC State 1 4 0 3 6 0
Davidson 0 3 0 0 5 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The team ranked first among the nation's 76 major college teams in both scoring offense (37.2 points per game) and scoring defense (3.8 points per game).[1]

In the final Litkenhous Ratings, Duke ranked fourth among the nation's college and service teams with a rating of 118.3.[3]

The team played its home games at Duke Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.

Schedule

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DateTimeOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 18 3:30 p.m. Camp Lejeune* W 40–0 12,076 [4][5]
September 25 Richmond
  • Duke Stadium
  • Durham, NC
W 61–0 7,415 [6]
October 2 North Carolina Pre-Flight*
  • Duke Stadium
  • Durham, NC
W 42–0 6,179 [7]
October 9 vs. No. 4 Navy* No. 5L 13–14 55,600 [8]
October 16 North Carolina  No. 6
  • Duke Stadium
  • Durham, NC
W 14–7 32,000 [9]
October 30 at Georgia Tech* No. 8W 14–7 30,000 [10]
November 6 at NC State No. 9W 75–0 6,000 [11]
November 13 Virginia* No. 7
  • Duke Stadium
  • Durham, NC
W 49–0 6,000 [12]
November 20 at North Carolina No. 6W 27–6 27,000 [13]
  • *Non-conference game
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Rankings

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
Week
Poll12345678Final
AP5 (4)698976 (1)5 (2)7 (7)

References

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  1. ^ a b "1943 Duke Blue Devils Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
  2. ^ "Duke Football 2016 Media Guide" (PDF). Duke University. 2016. p. 96. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
  3. ^ Litkenhous, E. E. (December 17, 1943). "Litkenhouse Selects U. S. Grid Leaders". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City, Utah. p. 18. Retrieved April 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com  .
  4. ^ Horner, Jack (September 18, 1943). "Duke Plays Strong Opponent In Camp Lejeune Marines Today". Greensboro Daily News. Greensboro, North Carolina. p. 4. Retrieved April 19, 2023 – via Newspapers.com  .
  5. ^ Herbert, Dick (September 19, 1943). "Blue Devils Rout Marines Marines, 40 to 0". The News & Observer. Raleigh, North Carolina. p. 10. Retrieved April 19, 2023 – via Newspapers.com  .
  6. ^ "Scoring is easy for Blue Devils against Spiders". The Sunday Star-News. September 26, 1943. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Duke does usual, Blue Devils roll for six counters". The News and Observer. October 3, 1943. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Navy rides out late storm for 14–13 win over Duke". The Miami Herald. October 10, 1943. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Duke score early to defeat North Carolina eleven by score of 14 to 7". The Baltimore Sun. October 17, 1943. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Duke Blue Devils defeat Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 14 to 7". The Birmingham News. October 31, 1943. Retrieved October 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Thirty-two V-12 losses don't hurt Duke; Score, 75 to 0". The State. November 7, 1943. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Duke wins, 49–0". Winston-Salem Journal. November 14, 1943. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Blue Devils roll over Tar Heels by 27–6 before 27,000 fans". Greensboro Daily News. November 21, 1943. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.